By Amber Schultz and Perry Duffin
A political staffer who accused Kiama MP Gareth Ward of rape has been questioned in court over “friendly” behaviour, including calling the parliamentarian “love” in a text message two years after the alleged sexual assault.
Ward has been charged with one count of sexual intercourse without consent against the man, then aged 24, following an event at Parliament House in 2015, as well as three counts of assault with an act of indecency involving an 18-year-old man. Ward has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Gareth Ward (right), arriving at court with his barrister David Campbell, SC, for week two of his criminal trial. Credit: Kate Geraghty
The older man returned to the witness box in Downing Centre on Monday for cross-examination via video link, where he was questioned by Ward’s barrister, David Campbell, SC, about his social interactions with the MP following the alleged assault.
The court heard that the man responded to an email invitation from Ward to a birthday party in the middle of 2016, stating that he’d “love” to join. The man couldn’t remember if he attended the party at the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, telling the court it was almost a decade ago.
The pair also met up for a meal in 2017 at Ward’s suggestion, where the court previously heard Ward attempted to touch the man’s thigh under the table, causing him to move away and sit with nearby colleagues.
The complainant told the court last week he felt “a little bit uncomfortable” and “more alert” after the meal, and would attempt to sit away from Ward, and avoid group dinners and drinks with Ward, after that.
Ahead of a work-related event a few days after the meal, Campbell told the court, the complainant wrote, “Gareth, love, we are ready to start”, in a message. The barrister questioned why he would speak to someone who had “sexually violated” him.
The complainant said he was likely “overcompensating” by being friendly and that he routinely uses those words with colleagues.
“I often use words like ‘love’ and ‘dear’ to pretty much everyone in my circle … In my current work I refer to one of my colleagues as ‘dear’,” the complainant said.
“So it’s not love as in physical love, it’s love as in, ‘I said love, I said darl, I said pet’, that kind of thing,” the complainant said, quoting a famous sketch by comedian Magda Szubanski from the 1990s.
Ward has been charged with one count of sexual intercourse without consent against one man, then aged 24, as well as three counts of assault with an act of indecency involving an 18-year-old man.Credit: Steven Siewert
The man was also questioned about whether he had ever approached Ward in parliament, touched or hugged him, or been friendly to him in shared spaces. To this he said he couldn’t recall, as well as his motives for sending a text message wishing Ward luck in his 2019 re-election bid.
“[That] is a personal, friendly message … a friendly kind of contact, wasn’t it?” Campbell asked. The man said they were “nice words” but within the context of a message discussing another parliamentarian’s win.
He testified that he had told other staffers that Ward was a “creep” and that he had drafted an email with the allegations to send to the premier’s office in 2019, but didn’t trust that the email would be confidential.
The man previously testified that he felt Ward’s position in the Liberal Party as a minister made it challenging to come forward, and that Ward promised to “take care” of the young staffer the day after allegedly raping him in his home in Sydney’s east.
Cross-examination will resume on Tuesday as the estimated three- to four-week trial continues.
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